Ragnar So Cal Leg Reviews

I'm just fresh as a daisy. I little tired, but really not too bad off. Man that race was loooooonngg. As always, I had an amazing time. Going into the race, I did't know what to expect having been pretty sick the week leading up the race. Coughing tons of crap out of my lungs made me a little aprehensive. Anyway, big ups to Warnie who taught me you can stop your Garmin at stop lights when not running therefor maintaining your pace. Dooh! Here are the leg reviews:

Leg 1- 7 miles
I really started to get anxious to run Fri afternoon. So much so, I got a serious heads-up from Bunk Bro JB. He cautioned me to be really conservative at the start and not to blast off as I have a tendency to do. Point taken, thanks JB. Really felt very comfortable starting off this leg. Lumpy is how we ended up describing alot of Van 2's first legs. This one was no different. Lots of up and down, especially after I crossed the 101 for the second time, big hill. I really grew to detest traffic lights as well. I couldn't get a break with the lights. I don't think I ever got one green light. Then there was the off ramp from the 101, well it was evening drive time. Must have waited there several minutes with anther runner as we cursed the cars getting off the fwy. Still stayed conservative until the aforementioned hill after the 101, I then opened up the throttle and pasted a guy keeping a good pace on the climb. I still felt pretty good. He ultimately passed me on the downhill but I felt good. Ok, leg 1 done. 7 miles, 57:34, 8:06/mile pace.

Leg 2- 5.8 miles
Started just S. of Marina Del Rey. Mckay surprised us there as the exchange workers weren't calling out numbers. No worries, yanked the sweatshirt off, turned the lights and the ipod on, and off I went into the early morning darkness. Ran down Dockweiler Beach right in front of the runways of LAX. Saw 2-3 747's take off and land. Those are really big when you are basically right under them. I didn't feel too bad at the outset. Didn't have anyone around to run with or chase down. Very solitary. Winter storm surge left lots of sand on the bike path along the beach. Not just a dusting of sand either, full blown deep sand. That is serious rhythm killer right there. Basically like coming to a stand still. I was dragging big time the final 2 miles. Didn't feel good at all. The Chasqui Shuffle was in full effect, I was barely picking up my feet. I could see the Manhattan Beach pier from a long was off. This was the exchange where I would pass off to Belinda. I seemed like it kept getting farther and farther away. Finished the leg, really didn't feel very good at all. Stomach upset, legs shot, head felt like scrambled eggs. And I still had a 7 mile final leg to go? You kidding me? 5.8 miles, 46:36, 8:08/mile pace.

Leg 3- 7 miles (supposed to be 6.8 in race bible, Garmin said otherwise)
Ok, so I had a bad leg in the middle of the night, so what. Get over it you puss. End this thing the right way. This was the internal conversation that was going on in my head. Redemption was in order. I took the bracelet from Mckay at a park in Huntington Beach. I was running kinda familiar roads near So Coast Plaza and the John Wayne airport in Irvine. I started about 100 yards behind another guy runner. As I approached him he sped up a little. This guy is maintaining a good pace, I'll hang out with him. He didn't seem to mind setting pace and we even chatted a little at a few stop lights. We held great pace through 3 miles, he needed a Gu, so he pulled in behind me and I set pace for a little while. We both agreed we could keep this pace to the end and work together. We were poised for a good, fast leg. Coming up the over pass of the 405 at So Coast Plaza I looked back to make sure he was still behind me, no dude. What? Saw him way back looking at his feet. Turned out he popped his calf, he was done. Cool guy we talked at the exch and at the finish. Anyway I was booking and what was better is that I knew I was booking. My leg previous, I had a mental breakdown. I had confidence now and I was cruising. I would really love to have seen what my pace would have been with out the stop light time figured in. Redemption gained. 7 miles, 53:13, 7:50/mile pace.

Looks like next Ragnar for me will be October here in Vegas, can't wait.